Turkey Time

With Thanksgiving comes the feast on turkey.

I heard somewhere that eating turkey makes you unusually drowsy and wondered if it was true or merely an urban legend. In otherwords, is there actually something in turkey that causes sleepiness?

Well turkey does contain tryptophan, which is an amino acid that is a natural sedative, but in order to produce drowsiness there must be no protein present and tryptophan must be taken on an empty stomach. Since turkey obviously has protein, the tryptophan in it is not likely to make you nod off.

Furthermore, the amount of tryptophan you consumed even during a huge Thanksgiving feast is too small to make a significant difference. Beef and soybeans contain more tryptophan than turkey as well.

I reckon people feel so tired after Thanksgiving dinner because they've just gorged themselves on a huge meal, probably had an excess of carbohydrates as well and imbibed a little alcohol to wash it all down.